Vaali (film)

Vaali is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film written and directed by S. J. Surya making his directorial debut and was produced by S. S. Chakravarthy under production company Nic Arts. The film stars Ajith Kumar in a double role with Simran and Jyothika in the lead roles. Vivek, Sujitha, and Pandu in supporting roles. A modern-day fictional adaptation of the legend of Vali from the Ramayana, it tells the story of Deva and Shiva, two identical twin brothers, with Deva being deaf-mute. When Shiva marries his sweetheart Priya, Deva becomes obsessed with and lusts for Priya.[1][2]

This article is about the 1999 Tamil film. For the poet and lyricist, see Vaali (poet).

Vaali
Directed by	S. J. Surya
Produced by	S. S. Chakravarthy
Written by	S. J. Surya
Starring	Ajith Kumar Simran
Music by	Deva
Cinematography	Jeeva Additional Cinematography: M. S. Prabhu Ravi Varman
Edited by	B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan
Production company	Nic Arts
Release date	30 April 1999 (1999-04-30)
Running time	158 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Surya who was assisting Vasanth in Aasai (1995) approached Ajith Kumar to do a film under his direction if he had a good script.[3] Simran was selected as the lead actress after attempts to sign Keerthi Reddy and Roja had failed. The soundtrack was composed by Deva and lyrics were written by Vairamuthu with songs like "Oh Sona" and "April Madhathil" becoming popular. The cinematography was handled by Jeeva while the editing was done by the duo of B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan.

The film was released on 30 April 1999 to positive reviews from critics for direction of S. J. Suryah along with the performances of Ajith Kumar and Simran. The film became a commercial success at box-office. Ajith Kumar earned his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor with this film.

Plot

Deva and Shiva (both played by Ajith Kumar) are twins. Deva, the elder, is deaf and mute; but he is a genius, an expert at lip-reading, and the head of a successful advertising company. Shiva loves and trusts his brother. Priya (Simran) wants to marry someone who is an ex-smoker, ex-drunkard, and who got ditched by a girl but is pining for her. Learning this, Shiva, with the help of his friend Vicky (Vivek), invents an old romance between him and Sona (Jyothika), and finds his way into Priya's heart.

Meanwhile, Deva chances upon Priya and lusts for her. His obsession continues even after his brother marries the girl of his dreams, and he devises various means of getting close to Priya and keeping Shiva and her separated. Some of the methods Deva uses to woo Priya are masochistic (wounding his hand by the running car engine to stop the couple's first night) and psychotic (trying to kill his brother in so many ways).

While Shiva is away on work as a substitute for his injured brother, Priya has to take care of Deva. Priya soon realises the not-so-honorable intentions Deva has towards her, but Shiva refuses to believe her and has full faith in his brother. He even goes as far as to take Priya to a psychiatrist. To get away from it all, Shiva and Priya go on a long-delayed honeymoon, but Deva shows up there, too. Shiva watches Deva kissing Priya's photo and realizes that she was right all along. Deva beats Shiva mercilessly, packs the unconscious Shiva in a gunny bag, and throws him in a lorry.

Deva disguises himself as Shiva and tries to seduce Priya. Priya comes to know that he is Deva and escapes from him before shooting him with her revolver. Deva falls in the pool, and when Shiva comes, she narrates the whole incident to him. Suddenly, Deva comes back to life, but Shiva immediately kills him with the revolver. Deva's soul talks about his inability to express his feeling as he was mute. His grave with many flowers grown on it is shown.

Cast

• Ajith Kumar as Deva and Shiva, the twin brothers
• Simran as Priya
• Jyothika as Meena (Sona)
• Vivek as Vicky, salesman and Shiva's friend
• Sujitha as Sheela, Deva and Shiva's sister
• Radhabhai as Deva and Shiva's grandmother
• Rathan as Priya's father
• N. Mathrubootham as Dr. Mathrubootham
• Pandu as Velu Nair, broker
• Indhu as Uma, Priya's friend
• Rajeev as Uma's husband
• G. Marimuthu
• Devipriya as Sudha, Deva's assistant
• Thadi Balaji as Aadhimoolam, Vicky's patient
• Livingston in a guest appearance
• S. J. Surya in a guest appearance

Production

S. J. Surya had worked as an assistant director in Vasanth's Aasai which featured Ajith Kumar as well as working with him during the making of Ullaasam. Ajith Kumar asked Suryaah to prepare a good script and promised he would give him a chance to make his directorial debut. Subsequently, the pair approached S. S. Chakravarthy, a producer, to make a film.[4] Keerthi Reddy was announced to be the lead actress in the film in December 1997, though she was replaced by Simran before filming began.[5] It had also been reported that Roja would play another role, although this proved to be untrue.[6] Meena also was approached to play the female lead but she could not allocate the dates. Jyothika, sister of actress Nagma, made her debut in the film as an imaginary character, Sona, narrated by Ajith Kumar's character.[7]

About the making of the film, Ajith Kumar mentioned that Vaali "was very close to my heart and I gave it everything I had", revealing that he had initially received a lot of bad publicity and scepticism for doing a dual role too early in his career.[8]

Release

Vaali received A certificate from Central Board of Film Certification. The Deccan Herald described it as "definitely worth seeing" saying it "has something for all tastes — a pleasant love angle, some suspense, complex psychological nuances, good acting, pleasing songs" while praising Ajith Kumar's performance.[9] The reviewer from Indolink.com labelled the film as "a classic in its own right", praising the performances of Ajith Kumar and Simran while describing Suryaah as "a new young director to the cine field who can make Tamil Cinema be proud once again".[10] The New Indian Express labelled Simran's portrayal as "outstanding" while mentioning Surya does a "fairly good job and succeeds".[11] Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan dated 16 May 1999 appreciated the film by giving 45 marks and mentioned "Director SJ Suryah established his stamp of film-making in his very first film by taking up a straight line story with an engaging screenplay and realistic dialogues. Ajith Kumar has done a fantastic job in dual role and Simran also proved that she can act".[12] New Straits Times praised Simran's mind blowing performance.[13] The Hindu wrote "RICH PRODUCTION values, fine performances by Ajit Kumar (playing the dual role of brothers) and Simran, bold and powerful dialogue by S. J. Surya, who has directed the movie based on his story and screenplay, are the major contributing factors in NIC Arts’ “Vaalee”."[14]

The film ran for 270 days in Tamilnadu [15] and 100 days in Kerala.[16] The film became a huge commercial success and provided a major breakthrough for both Ajith Kumar and Simran's career.[17][18]

Dubbed versions & remakes

The film was later dubbed into Telugu and Hindi with the same name. The film was remade in Kannada as Vaalee by S. Mahendar starring Sudeep in the lead role. Vaali was remade into Hindi as Sheesha where the wife has a same-face sister.[19]

Awards

Filmfare Awards South

• Best Actor – Ajith Kumar
• Best Female Debut – Jyothika
• Best Actress – Simran – Nominated

Cinema Express Awards[20]

• Best Actor – Ajith Kumar
• Best Actress – Simran
• Best Music Director – Deva
• Best Comedian – Vivek

Soundtrack

Vaali
Soundtrack album by Deva
Released	18 April 1999
Recorded	1999
Genre	soundtrack
Length	29:31
Language	Tamil
Label	Sony Music India
Producer	Deva
Deva chronology
Unnaruge Naan Irundhal (1999) Vaali (1999) Appu (2000)

The soundtrack was composed by Deva and lyrics were written by Vairamuthu.[12] The song "Sona Sona" is based on "Susanna" by VOF de Kunst, and "Where Do I Begin?", the theme to Love Story composed by Francis Lai.[21]

Track list

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Sona Sona"	Hariharan, Ajith Kumar, Febi Mani	6:03
2.	"Gee Priya"	SP Balasubramanyam, Swarnalatha	5:28
3.	"Nilavai Konduva"	Unni Krishnan, Anuradha Sriram	6:05
4.	"Vaanil Kaayuthae"	Mano, Anuradha Sriram	6:27
5.	"April Maathathil"	Unni Krishnan, Harini	5:28
Total length:			29:31

Track list (Telugu)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Sona Sona"	Bhuvana Chandra	Hariharan, Srinivasa Murthy, Savitha Reddy	6:04
2.	"Holalla Holalla"	Bhuvana Chandra	SP Balasubramanyam, Swarnalatha	5:31
3.	"Ningine Dinchna"	Siva Ganesh	Unni Krishnan, Anuradha Sriram	6:04
4.	"Vayyaraala Aa Vennela"	Siva Ganesh	Mano, Anuradha Sriram	6:23
5.	"April Maasamlo"	Bhuvana Chandra	Unni Krishnan, Harini	5:28
Total length:				29:27

All lyrics are written by PK Mishra.

Track list (Hindi)

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Oh Sona Oh Sona"	Hariharan, Sakti Singh, Namrata Sawney	5:32
2.	"Koyi Haseena"	Babul Supriya, Sadhana Sargam	5:32
3.	"Dilbar Mujkho"	Udit Narayan, Sapna Awasthi	5:58
4.	"Man Mein Chhupi"	Vinod Rathod, Bela Shinde	6:27
5.	"Jaanam Jaanam"	Udit Narayan, Anuradha Paudwal	5:31
6.	"Dilbar Mujkho II"	Udit Narayan, Anuradha Sriram	5:58
7.	"Man Mein Chhupi II"	Vinod Rathod, Anuradha Sriram	6:27

References

1. "rediff.com, Movies: Ajith comes a full circle". m.rediff.com.
2. "When Tamil films did away with annan-thambi paasam". Sify.
3. "Ajith noted Surya's grit during the sh sh Aasai".
4. Jeevi (12 June 2001). "Interview with SJ Surya". Idlebrain. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
5. "1997–98 Kodambakkam babies Page". Indolink Tamil. 3 March 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
6. "Star Tracks". Chandrag.tripod.com. 24 May 1998. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
7. Malani, Sandeep (6 July 1999). "Pot Pourri". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
8. "Ajith comes a full circle". Rediff.com. 23 March 2000. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
9. "Vaali (Tamil)". Deccan Herald. 31 May 1999. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
10. "Vaali: Movie Review". Indolink Tamil. 30 August 2011. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011.
11. "Twin Trouble". The New Indian Express. 30 May 1999. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
12. Dhananjayan 2011, p. 209.
13. "New Straits Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
14. https://web.archive.org/web/20111003174702/http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/art.nsf/(docid)/19AFF656632D842765256941003DC8C4?OpenDocument
15. "Tamil movies : From Rs.390 to Rs.3.5 Crores. Ajith Kumar's journey of hardship, from nowhere to stardom!!". www.behindwoods.com. 1 May 2006. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
16. "Rediff On The NeT, Movies: Gossip from the southern film industry". m.rediff.com.
17. "An interview with Ajith Kumar". Rediff. 6 July 1999. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
18. "Gossip from the southern film industry". Rediff. 14 June 2000. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
19. "19 years of Ajith's Vaali -Things you din't know about the blockbuster". Suryan FM. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
20. "Recently". Cinematoday2.itgo.com. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
21. Tamil Copycat Songs. Ananda Vikatan. 19 May 2013. From 3:02 to 3:40.

External links

• Vaali on IMDb

Bibliography

• Dhananjayan, G. (2011). The Best of Tamil Cinema, 1931 to 2010: 1977–2010. Galatta Media. ISBN 978-81-921043-0-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)